Romans 9

Romans 9:1

After his glorious discourse on the building blocks of our salvation in chapters 18, why would Paul veer off in chapters 9-11 to talk about the people of Israel? Some have suggested that Paul’s giant intellect was blown out at the end of chapter 8, so in chapter 9, he began to meander intellectually and theologically. “It’s good stuff,” they say, “but it doesn’t fit in with the rest of the book.” These commentators miss the point entirely. They don’t understand that, far from being an interruption, chapters 9-11 are actually a perfect illustration. Having established the principles of salvation in chapters 18, and before he will discuss the practicality of salvation in chapters 12-16, Paul addresses the problem of salvation in chapters 9-11. You see, Paul ended chapter 8 with the victorious declaration that nothing shall separate us from the love of Christ. At this point, the scholar, the Bible student could say, “But what about the Jews? Are they separated from His love? Are they lost? And if so, what hope do we have? If they, who were once God’s chosen people, are no longer walking with Him, what chance do we Gentiles have?” Romans 9-11 is essential to the flow of the rest of the Book of Romans because Paul uses the Jew as an illustration of the faithfulness of God. In chapter 9, God’s past dealings with Israel show His sovereignty. In chapter 10, God’s present dealings with Israel show His equity. In chapter 11, God’s promised dealings with Israel show His integrity. In Exodus 32, Moses said, “Oh, Lord, even though Your people have turned from You, and have fallen into idolatry and immorality, if You don’t forgive them, if You don’t continue working with them, blot my name out of Your book of life as well” (see verse Rom_9:32). Here in verse Rom_9:3, it’s as if Paul says, “The same heart that beat within Moses is in me, for if possible, I would go to hell and suffer eternally if my kinsmen could be saved.” Where did Paul get such passion, such love for people who were out to do him in? It was cultivated in prayer, as seen in chapter 10, where he says, “Brethren my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is they might be saved” (see verse Rom_10:11). Truly, when you pray for people, your heart changes toward them as you become concerned about them and involved with them. Loving and Praying A Topical Study of Rom_9:1-3 Did I ever blow it! Flying into Pocatello, Idaho, I found the flight a bit bumpy. The plane was bouncing. My stomach was churning. And, once again, I was ready to toss my cookies. We finally landed, however, and I made it safely to the group in Pocatello with whom I was to share. “Coming into Pocatello International, I understand why they call airport lobbies terminals. I felt my condition was just thatterminal,” I cracked in my opening remarks. “Especially if you’re flying on Horizon Scareways.” The crowd laughed. Then we got into the Word and had a fabulous time together. The next morning, as I stood at the ticket counter in the Pocatello terminal, the lady facing me looked at my ticket and said, “Oh, you’re Jon Courson.” “Yes,” I said. “You were speaking here last night?” “Yes,” I said. “We had a great time. Were you there?” Her wan smile turned into an icy frown. She looked at me with steely eyes and said, “Absolutely not. All I know is, you called our company Horizon Scareways.” At this point, two other agents joined her and said, “How could you call our company Horizon Scareways?” “Oh, I was just joking,” I answered meekly. “I think your airline is wonderful.” But then I felt bad for lying! “Could I please have an aisle seat?” I asked, changing the subject. “No,” was her curt reply. So I got my ticket, found my seat, and strapped myself in, feeling awful. After a few minutes, I thought, Wait a minute. Why would they say those things to mea paying customer? Whatever happened to the philosophy that made America great, the understanding that the customer is always right? And I found myself getting mad at the way I perceived I was being treated at the ticket counter. So I went from feeling bad to feeling mad. And as the plane took off, I went from feeling mad to feeling sad, realizing I was becoming defensive, critical, and small. Thus, as the plane got up in the air, the flight was turbulentnot only because of the weather outside, but because of the storm raging within me. How very different was my reaction to this situation than was the apostle Paul’s. You see, as he traveled throughout Europe, sharing the gospel and communicating grace and love, a group of his countrymen awaited himmen of Israel who arrived in every city in order that they might lie about him and either greet him with stones (Act_14:19), or arrange to have him thrown in prison (Act_21:27). So serious were Paul’s enemies that they took an oath, saying, “We will not eat another meal until Paul is dead” (see Act_23:12). Talk about tough traveling! Here I was complaining because I felt my little comment was taken too seriously. But Paul? People were lying about him, throwing rocks at him, grabbing hold of him, determined to do away with him. Paul really had a tough time at the hands of his countrymen. But what was his reaction concerning those who were out to do him in? It blows my mind! I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh…Rom_9:1-3 (a) The Holy Spirit testifying to the truth of his words, Paul said, “I would go to hell for these guys if only they could be saved.” Would you say that concerning the person who’s coming down on you, regarding the person who wants to do you in? It might be a teacher, a parent, a neighbor, a co-worker, or an old girlfriend. It might be someone who’s done you wrong, lied about you, hurled insulting stones at you, wanted to grab hold of you, and if possible would annihilate and destroy you. Think about the person who is most difficult for you to deal with. How do you honestly feel about him? Would you go to hell eternally if that person could go to heaven? Paul’s words absolutely amaze me. To the Philippian believers, Paul said, “I’m craving heaven, but for your sakes, it’s needful for me to stick around here on earth” (see Php_1:20-24). Commendable indeed! But to me how much more powerful is his statement to the very ones who were out to get him when he said not only, “I won’t go to heaven,” but “I would go to hell for you if it were possible.” How did Paul develop such love for people who wanted only to do him in? And how can we develop the same love? How can we overcome our bitterness and disappointment, our anger and hostility toward people who come against us, disappoint us, or hurt us? Turn the page to Romans 10, for I believe that is where the answer lies. Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.Rom_10:1 The Greek rendering of this verse is: “Brethren, my heart’s desire and continual prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved.” In other words, “My heart’s desire and continual prayer for Israelthe country that misunderstands me, the people who are out to destroy me, the nation which has totally rejected meis, Lord, save them.” Paul not only proved his love by praying for his countrymen, but his prayer for his countrymen actually produced that kind of love in Paul. This is why Jesus specifically told us we are to pray for our enemies (Mat_5:44). You see, here’s what happens: Something begins to take place in me when I pray for peopleparticularly for my enemies. My heart toward them begins to change. When he came down from Mount Sinai after meeting with God on behalf of the children of Israel, Moses saw them dancing naked around a golden calf. What was his reaction? He was so mad he threw the tablets he was carrying to the ground. But then he said something hauntingly familiar: “Lord, if You don’t forgive these, Your people, blot my name out of Your book” (see Exo_32:32). In other words, “If You don’t forgive these people, I’ll go to hell with them.” How could Moses have that kind of love, particularly when earlier in the chapter, the Lord said, “These are a stiffnecked people you’re leading, Moses. Let Me wipe them out and make from you a new nation” (see Exo_32:10)? I suggest to you had Moses not spent forty days with the Lord prior to this occurrence, he would not have had the heart he did. So, sitting in the airplane, going through this internal turmoil, the Lord reminded me of Moses and Paul. And as I chewed on this text, thinking these things through, I suddenly realized, I had to pray for those Horizon ladies. So I did. I prayed that they would be blessed, that the Lord would place it in their hearts to forgive me, that their day might go well, that they might somehow be touched by God’s grace and love. Then I prayed for the president of Horizon Airlines. And I prayed for Horizon, that they would be prosperous and blessedand that they would get better planes. I prayed for the steward in the cabin, and the pilot in the cockpit. As I was en route, I prayed for my fellow passengers. As I sat in the lobby in Boise, I prayed for people who walked by. And, eventually, something began to happen, for as I prayed, I found my heart being filled with love toward anyone and everyone for whom I took the time to pray. Paul said, “I continually pray for my brethren.” That’s why he had such a deep love for them and was willing to go to hell on their behalf. I suggest to you two reasons why you need to pray for people with whom you’re having a hard time, for people with whom you don’t see eye to eye, for people who bug you… Pray for Your Own Sake A man opened a door for a lady in New York City. She stopped, turned to him, and said, “You don’t have to open the door for me just because I’m a lady.” He looked at her and said, “I’m not opening the door for you because you’re a lady. I’m opening the door because I’m a gentleman.” Good point! You see, when I pray for people who bug me, I realize my praying will not only affect them, but it will affect my own attitude, my own tendency toward cynicism, my own critical spirit, my own bitterness. In other words, prayer will change me. So why should you pray for the person who’s bugging you, who’s letting you down or trying to do you in? Because it will make you a better person. It will keep you soft and tender. It will make you a loving man, a loving woman. That’s why Jesus said, “Don’t preach at, argue with, or analyze your enemies. Just pray and bless them.” And if we’ll take Jesus seriously, we will find prayer changing us in the process. Pray for Christ’s Sake Jesus was done in, beaten up by you and me. Isaiah tells us He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him. By His stripes we are healed (Isa_53:5). Therefore, when somebody beats up on me and I think it’s unfair, I need to remember that I beat up on Jesus. My sin and stupidity were what caused Him to be pinned to the tree. He was beaten up for me. And what did He do even as He was being beaten up? He prayed, “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they’re doing” (see Luk_23:34). Not only was He beaten up by me, He continues to be let down constantly, for I am not doing the things I know I could do. I am not the man I know I should be. And yet what does He do? He who was pinned to the tree rose again and went to heaven, where He lives to ever make intercessionto pray for me (Heb_7:25). Now if Jesusbeaten up by me, let down because of meprays for me, I need to do what He says. “If you love Me,” He says, “keep My commandments” (see Joh_14:15). And what are His commandments? Simply these: to love God with all your heart and soul and mind and strengthand to love the person who’s around you, who works beside you, who lives next to you, who bugs you (Mat_22:37-40). If we don’t have love, we don’t have anything (1Co_13:2). “But, Lord, how can I have love?” “Very simple,” He says. “By spending time with Me and by praying for your enemies.” Pray for others and your own heart will change. You’ll find the flight will be a whole lot smoother than if you’re justifying your position. Right now the Lord can set you free if you’ll just do what Paul did, what Moses did, what Jesus did. Pray. Pray for people continually. “God forbid,” said Samuel, “that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you” (1Sa_12:23). Prayer is the proof of love. And love is produced by prayer. Prayboth for your sake and for the sake of the One who continually prays for you.

Romans 9:4

After his anguish for the Jewish people seen in verses Rom_9:1-3, we come to Paul’s analysis of the Jewish problem here in verse Rom_9:4. Consider, first of all, the gifts of God to Israel. They were chosen not because they were more righteous than others, for God called them a stiffnecked and hard-hearted people (Deu_7:6-8). No, He chose them to be trophies of His grace. We have a tendency to think, You were wise when You picked me, Lord. You saw my dedication, my determination. Good choice. Truly You’re a wise Godproven by the way You chose me and adopted me into Your family. But that’s not what the Bible teaches. It says you were chosen not to the glory of His wisdom, but to the glory of His grace in order that throughout the ages, the angels will be perpetually amazed by God’s mercy and kindness when they see you in heaven. “Glory” refers to the Hebrew word chabodwhich means weight, substance, heaviness. The chabod was the cloud over the Jews as they traveled through the wilderness by day. The chabod was also the pillar of fire that went before them by night. It was the glory that filled the tabernacle as well as the glory that filled the temple. It was the visible, tangible presence of God, the substance people still crave in their hearts. The chabod is what every man is looking for when he searches for something weighty, something substantial, something real. The covenants and the law gave the Jews principles that they might do well, excel, and succeed in life. There’s nothing more satisfying than serving Godand Israel was blessed with such a calling. Israel was also blessed with great menAbraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and David. The best gift of all was that Jesus Christ was born to a Jewish mother, grew up in a Jewish home, went to a Jewish school, sat in a Jewish synagogue, ministered to the Jewish people, and said, “I have come to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (see Mat_15:24). What an unspeakable gift was given to the Jews.

Romans 9:6

After considering the gifts of God to Israel, Paul goes on to talk about the grace of God upon Israel. Not all Jews rejected God’s grace. Some received His Son as their Messiahwhich is why Paul said, “It’s not as though the Word of God has taken none effect.” “Not everyone who claims to be a Jew is a Jew,” said Paul, and to illustrate his point, he appealed to Abraham. Abraham had two sons: Isaac, the promised son; and Ishmael, the attempt of his flesh to help God get the job done. How did God view Ishmael? “Abraham, take your son, your only son up to the mount,” He said (see Gen_22:2). In other words, God didn’t even acknowledge Abraham had another son. This comforts me greatly. You see, a lot of us have a lot of Ishmaels running aroundthings we’ve done in our flesh, trying to help God. But God doesn’t even acknowledge them. When God reminded Abraham, however, that He would give him a promised son, what did Abraham say? “Oh that Ishmael might live before Thee” (Gen_17:18). Abraham’s is my cry far too often. “Lord, bless my fleshly endeavor. I know it was done in my own energy and my stupidity, but bless it anyway, Lord.” But God did not work through Ishmael. So, too, using Abraham as an illustration, Paul says, “Understand that not all who are from Abraham are children of Abraham. Look at Ishmael.” Not all who claim to be Israel are Israel. “Israel” means “governed by God,” and not all who claim to be of Israel are governed by God. So, too, not all who claim the name “Christian” are Christians. Go to any college history class, and they’ll attack you if you’re a believer when they talk about the Crusades, and what “Christians” have done in Northern Ireland and the Middle East. The name is not important. Many name the name, but they’re not of the true lineage of Jesus Christ. They’re not born again. They’re not governed by Him. So Paul says, “Be careful. Not all who claim to be Israel are of Israel. Those descendants of Abraham through Isaac, and those who descend through the spiritual seed (like you and me) are those who are truly governed by God.”

Romans 9:9

Not only did Abraham have two sonsIsaac chosen, Ishmael forgottenbut when Isaac had kids, the story continued.

Romans 9:11

Even as God sovereignly chose Isaac and ignored Ishmael, He sovereignly chose Jacob, the younger of Isaac’s sons, and rejected Esau. “Don’t you see how good God has been to you?” asks Paul. “You are descendants of Abraham through Isaac and through Jacobsimply because of God’s sovereignty.”

Romans 9:13

A lot of people have a real problem right here. “How could God choose to love Jacob, and choose to hate Esau before they were even born?” they ask. The answer is simple. It is because God is sovereign. The mystery to me is not that God hated Esau. The mystery to me is that God loved Jacoband that He loves me, a conniver just like Jacob. Did God choose correctly? Read your Bible and you’ll see that Esau wasn’t interested in spiritual things, but attracted to carnal things. Yes, God chose correctlyHe always does.

Romans 9:15

When did God say this? After the people of Israel had sinned by dancing around the golden calf, Moses prayed for them, and God said, “I’ll pardon them” (see Exo_33:19). Why? Because of His sovereignty.

Romans 9:16

The election of God is not something to run for, earn, or win. As Paul continues talking about the nation of Israel, he will contrast the sovereign pardon of God on our behalf with His sovereign punishment of Pharaoh.

Romans 9:17

God has compassion and mercy on Israel, while He has only condemnation and punishment for Pharaoh.

Romans 9:18

In the Exodus account, Scripture records twenty times when Pharaoh’s heart was hardenedten times of which God hardened his heart and ten times of which Pharaoh hardened it himself. Understand, Bible students, that when God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, He was only confirming Pharaoh’s own decision. So don’t feel too bad about Pharaoh, for even though he saw miracles happening and heard God’s Word very powerfully presented, he hardened his own heart.

Romans 9:19

Paul anticipated the next question: “If He chooses some and rejects others; if he raises up Pharaoh only to put him down, what choice does anyone have?”

Romans 9:20

A popular phrase in the political climate of the ’80s was, “Let Reagan be Reagan.” Paul would say, “Let God be God. Let Him do what He wants. Who are you to argue against Him? From one piece of clay, a potter can make a beautiful vase. From another, he can make a trashcan. So, too, the Master Potter can do with you whatever He wants.” Now, I could worry about placing my life in the hands of One who sovereignly decides whether I’ll be a vase or a spittoon, a thing of beauty or a trashcanbut only until I see the hands of the Potter as He shapes the clay. For then I see the prints where nails scarred those hands, where He loved me so much He died for me on Calvary. Surely, if He loved me enough to die for me, I can trust Him with my life absolutely, and say to Him, “Do with me whatever You wish.”

Romans 9:25

Here, Paul is referring to Gentiles, to the church. God sovereignly chooses us, just as He sovereignly chose Israel in the past.

Romans 9:27

A small group of the Jews will be saved. They’ll see the light and become part of the church.

Romans 9:28

“If God hadn’t saved a seed or a remnant, we would have been wiped out entirely,” Paul says concerning the Jews nationally. “But He saved a seed, a remnant, a group that has been preserved both historically and spiritually.” Not only that, He brought this seed into the church, along with others who were not His peopleGentiles like you and me. You see, in God’s economy, there are three groups of people: the Jew, the Gentile, and the church. The church is made up of Jews and Gentiles chosen by God to make up a brand-new entity. “Something new is happening,” said Paul. God in His sovereignty gave opportunity for Israel to come to Him. But most of Israel passed up the invitation. Paul says only a seed, only a remnant responded to the message of grace.

Romans 9:30

Realizing he’s a sinner unable to earn his way into the kingdom, the Gentile enters the kingdom solely by faith.

Romans 9:31

The Jew, on the other hand, attempted righteousness by the law and failed because the law cannot save man (Gal_3:24). The law was given to show us we’re sinners. Yet to this day, Israel is trying to be saved by her good works. Ask a Jew in Israel today how he’s going to make it spiritually, and he’ll say, “We will make it by our good deeds.” I’ve talked to sincere Jews about this, and they blush even as they say those words because they understand that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins (Heb_9:22). The Jewish people desperately want to rebuild the temple in order that they may offer Old Testament sacrifices again. For until that time, his only option presently is to hope his good works will cover his sinsas he continues to stumble over the very Cornerstone of the temple he is so desperate to build (Eph_2:20).